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HelloMi Fans, in today's Tech Class we will be going through the topic infrared blaster its uses and how to make use of it the most? and the top apps used . Hope you all are having fun and gaining lot of knowledge from this vast and huge resource center Mi Community.

Infrared (IR) is an invisible radiant energy, electormagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light, extending from the nominal red edge of the visible spectrum at 700 nanometers (frequency 430 THz) to 1000000 nm (300 GHz) (although people can see infrared up to at least 1050 nm in experiments. Most of the thermal radiation emitted by objects near room temperature is infrared.

Infrared (IR) radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation (a wave with electricity) . The wave is longer than light which humans can see and shorter than microwaves. The word infrared means below red. It comes from the Latin word infra (meaning below) and the English word red.

An infrared blaster (or IR blaster) is a device that emulates an infrared remote control to autonomously control a device that is normally controlled only by remote control key presses.

An IR Blaster or IR Transmitter emulates the functionality of remote for any device. IR Blaster works by emitting an infrared signal or infrared light to the device and then controlling it various functions. The infrared light is emitted by small LED and it is invisible to naked eye. This infrared signal or light contains a particular infrared code in form of pattern for each device and its functions, so that the receiving device can recognize it and then operate accordingly. For example LG and Samsung TVs infrared codes will be different and also for its various functions like volume, power on/off etc. Therefore if your Smartphone is having an IR Blaster then it can act as Universal Remote. There are also some good applications for IR Blaster that can convert your Smartphone as a Universal Remote.

Types Of IR Blasters

*Internal IR Blaster

*External IR Blaster

Internal IR blaster as the name says are devices with IR blaster inbuilt inside them.They are permanently fixed inside and usually is much more optimized than external blasters since the phones support them. Most phones with internal IR blaster have an dedicated software.

An external blaster is a add-on device that can be attached to your android smartphone and turning it into a Universal remote. There are two types of external IR blasters, one plug into the 3.5mm audio port of your phone and other one in the micro-USB port of your smartphone and it only works if your smartphone supports OTG (On-The-Go).External IR blasters are not that successful and they do not work on every smartphone. They need special IR Blaster software of their own for their working. Also the range of these external IR blasters is not good.

IR LEARNING IS THE CAPABILITY OF A DEVICE TO LEARN COMMANDS FROM ANOTHER IR DEVICE,FOR INSTANCE YOUR TV ISN'T IN THE LIST OF SUPPORTED DEVICES YOU CAN TAKE THE DEVICE'S REMOTE POINT,AIM AND SHOOT AT THE PHONE'S IR BLASTER AND SET THE BUTTONS ACCORDINGLY VERY FEW DEVICES SUPPORT IR LEARNING.

[Price: Free / 466.20 RS]
Smart IR Remote is a go-to option for a lot of folks, despite how expensive it is comparatively speaking. It boasts support for over 900,000 devices and more is added on a frequent basis. What makes this remote interesting is that it’s not just for televisions. You can also control AC or Heating appliances, DSLR cameras, video game consoles, smart home equipment, set top boxes, and more, which a dedicated layout of controls for each category depending on what it is. It works quite well as long as your device is compatible and especially if you have a lot of smart devices.

[Price: Free]
Google has spent much of the last few years perfecting the art of playing video, music, and other media on your device and then being able to cast (stream) it to your television. You’ll need a Chromecast or Chromecast Audio device in order to use the service, but there are a ton of apps that can take advantage of it. If you subscribe to a bunch of streaming services, chances are at least some of them will be compatible and it’ll be like you’re holding your cable box and remote in the same hand. The only downside is that the Chromecast hardware will cost you a little more money than just an app would.

[Price: Free]
The official Roku app is an excellent app for anyone who owns a Roku. Roku app allows you to queue up video content from your Roku channels and also acts as a remote control, allowing you to do things like rewind, fast forward, and more. It won’t control you TV like most remote apps, but if the volume is at the right level then there really isn’t much on your actual TV that you need to control. If you have a Roku or you’re thinking of getting one, you should also have this.

[Price: Free / 321.47 RS ]
SURE Universal Remote has been making a name for itself over the last year as a very solid option in the remote apps department. Like Anymote, this one has support for more than just televisions which works great if you have multiple smart devices in your home. You can also use it with Smart TVs to stream things like photos and videos directly from your device to the TV. You can use the IR blaster on your device or WiFi to control things (assuming those things connect to WiFi) and you can try it out before buying the full version.

[Price: Free]
Twinone IR Remote is an app specifically for controlling things through your IR blaster. It features a simple design that is both colorful and easy to read for quick remote work. You’ll be able to use it on most televisions and set top boxes. It also supports a few additional IR devices that don’t fit into those categories. For now, the only caveat is that this is ad supported and there isn’t a paid version on the market at the time of this writing to get rid of them. However, the developers have stated that they are working on that. Until then, at least, it’s entirely free with no in-app purchases.

[Price: Free / 266.11 RS]
Unified Remote is unique in that it’s used to control your computer. It has support for PC, Mac, and Linux and comes pre-loaded with support for a ton of functionality including a remote so you can control things, a mouse and keyboard so you can type and click things, and there is even screen mirroring included. This is great for those with HTPC set ups, Raspberry Pi devices, and Arduino Yun devices. The free version includes 18 free remotes and most of the features with the paid version has over 90 remotes, NFC support, Android Wear support, and more.

[Price: Free]
The official Xbox app is a lot like the official Roku app or the Google Cast app. You’ll be able to interact with your Xbox device and do things like send messages on Xbox Live, check out the activity feed of your friends and, of course, you can also control your Xbox. The remote will allow you to play and pause content, move around the screen, make selections, and you can even interact with some game content. It’s virtually useless if you don’t own an Xbox, but practically mandatory if you do.

[Price: Free / 239.44 RS]
Yatse is a remote application for Kodi (formerly known as XBMC). It will allow you to control Kodi, pause and play stuff, change your volume, and move around the interface as you see fit. You can also download stuff to your device for offline viewing, use it on Android Wear, and save your device configurations to the cloud for backup. There are even Muzei and DashClock extensions if you use those. It’s a great app and one of the few competent remote apps for those who use Kodi.

Hope you all understood about IR BLASTER and its uses. According to a study nearly 40% of people who own phones with IR Blasters don't use it because they don't know much about it, hope this tech class is useful and will make people use the most out of IR Blasters.